Author Archives: Tom Foster

About Tom Foster

Tom Foster spends most of his time talking with managers and business owners. The conversations are about business lives and personal lives, goals, objectives and measuring performance. In short, transforming groups of people into teams working together. Sometimes we make great strides understanding this management stuff, other times it’s measured in very short inches. But in all of this conversation, there are things that we learn. This blog is that part of the conversation I can share. Often, the names are changed to protect the guilty, but this is real life inside of real companies.

Moral Dilemma

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Question:

I have been working for my new company for six weeks, as an account manager. I supervise four customer service people, but I am in charge of the customer relationship. My biggest customer (I am the new guy, so it’s not the biggest for the company, but it is for me), has a trade show starting next Thursday. We’re in the printing business and have been designing their new brochure for three weeks. My manager just told me the press is going to bump the production run for a bigger order from another customer. My customer is not going to get their brochures in time.

Here is my dilemma. My manager wants me to lie and say the brochures will make it on time so my customer won’t pull the order. (My customer can re-order a short run of their old brochure from their old printing company.) My manager says the new brochures will make it for the second day of the show and I can just get on my knees and apologize, but at least we will still have the order.

You can see where this is leading. My customer is going to be really pissed. What should I do? I don’t want to lose my job, but I don’t want to lie. -The New Guy

To the Readers of Management Blog:

In life we have to make tough decisions. The New Guy could use some advice and support, and not just from me. I am inviting you to jump in. What would you do? What advice would you have for the New Guy? Post your response below. The best response (I will pick) will receive a copy of the book Fierce Conversations by Susan Scott.

Quiet Power of Fundamentals

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Christophe Mengin pulled away from the peleton at 23.5km into today’s race. He pounded through wind and rain for four hours, at times extending his lead beyond 8:00 minutes. In the end, the peleton caught him. With less than 500 meters in the race and the lead down to ten seconds, Alexandre Vinokourov launched from the pack to overtake the lone survivor. From the helicopter, you could see Mengin stretch into a hard right turn and, on the rain-slick pavement, go skidding across two lanes into the barriers.

The ensuing chaos saw riders pile up left and right. The top sprinters, positioned for the final gallop, found themselves upside down or skeetering around.

“Where’s Lance? Where’s Lance?”

Except for the time trials earlier in the week, these first stages have been fodder for sprinters, the top teams always up front, always launching their guns at the finish. Team Discovery quietly goes about its work. It keeps the pace quick but refrains from the frenetic and dangerous conclusions at the line. They have focused on speed in the time trials and keeping Lance safe during each race.

It’s not flash, it’s fundamentals. Quiet power and speed. In the overall standings, Team Discovery occupies five of the top eight places, with Lance Armstrong in Yellow and his teammate George Hincapie right behind.

So often, as Managers, we look for flashy sprint behavior to make our mark, but it is the quiet power of fundamentals that truly spells success. As a Manager, where do you focus your team?

Standings after Stage 6

1 001 ARMSTRONG, Lance USA DSC 17:58:11.000

2 004 HINCAPIE, George USA DSC 17:59:06.000

3 019 VINOKOUROV, Alexandre KAZ TMO 17:59:13.000

4 028 VOIGT, Jens GER CSC 17:59:15.000

5 023 JULICH, Bobby USA CSC 17:59:18.000

6 008 RUBIERA, José Luis ESP DSC 17:59:25.000

7 007 POPOVYCH, Yaroslav UKR DSC 17:59:27.000

8 005 NOVAL GONZALEZ, Benjamin ESP DSC 17:59:37.000

9 021 BASSO, Ivan ITA CSC 17:59:37.000

10 022 ARVESEN, Kurt-Asle NOR CSC 17:59:43.000

My hat is off to OLN for their coverage of the Tour. I am trying to stay way back on this side of the hill as far as reporting the “action” while looking for insights that illustrate this small study of management. For those who are interested, detailed coverage of the TDF is available at www.olntv.com.

Honor for the Game

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David Zabriskie had worn the Yellow Jersey since Day One of the Tour. During Tuesday’s team time trial, he crashed his bike out of the stage and into the barriers, costing him almost :90 seconds to the finish.

While this clearly placed Lance Armstrong into the Yellow Jersey on Tuesday, he refused to start the race on Wednesday wearing Yellow. His gesture was out of respect and deference to young David Zabriskie. “Armstrong felt it was no way to take the lead away from him,” described Phil Liggett in his daily wrap-up.

And so we learn lessons about Honor for the Game. In the book Double Goal Coach, Jim Thompson talks about Honoring the Game, something far more than simple sportsmanship. Sportsmanship is mainly about restraining bad behavior. “Don’t yell at the officials, don’t thumb your nose at the losers.” Honoring the Game goes beyond sportsmanship to “energize and motivate people to live up to their best, rather than being simply constrained from acting down to their worst.”

Today, we saw Honor for the Game. Of course, Tour officials saw things a little differently and threatened to disqualify Lance should he not don the Jersey, so he eventually complied.

As a Manager in your organization, how do you teach your team members Honor for the Game? -TF

Tour Standings after Stage 5

1 001 ARMSTRONG, Lance USA DSC 13:45:12.000

2 004 HINCAPIE, George USA DSC 13:46:07.000

3 028 VOIGT, Jens GER CSC 13:46:16.000

4 023 JULICH, Bobby USA CSC 13:46:19.000

5 008 RUBIERA, José Luis ESP DSC 13:46:26.000

6 007 POPOVYCH, Yaroslav UKR DSC 13:46:28.000

7 019 VINOKOUROV, Alexandre KAZ TMO 13:46:33.000

8 005 NOVAL GONZALEZ, Benjamin ESP DSC 13:46:38.000

9 029 ZABRISKIE, David USA CSC 13:46:38.000

10 021 BASSO, Ivan ITA CSC 13:46:38.000

For complete coverage, visit www.olntv.com.

Discipline is Just a Routine

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“But, it is like pulling teeth to get them to change the way they have been working. They get started, but after a couple of days, things are right back to the way they were before.” Matt sighed one of those Manager’s sighs. “I just wish my team was more disciplined.”

“Matt, discipline is nothing more than routine. Discipline isn’t harder than any other way of getting things done; it’s just not what you are used to.” I had spied a workroom on my way in. It was a small room with some simple tools and a work bench, good lighting. It was where people took things that needed fixing. Not broken things, but rather, product defects. The seam didn’t line up quite right; there was a burr on an edge. Rather than documenting the defect and looking for a solution, the team had, over time, assembled this little “fixing” room.

“Tell you what, Matt. Hide the tools and put a padlock on the room.” I could see his eyes grow wide. “Then, have a meeting and tell everyone that the fixing room is off-limits for 21 days. During that time, have meetings twice a week to talk about the new documentation process. After 21 working days, you should have a new routine. Discipline is just a different way of getting things done.”

Matt was nodding, “So, after 21 days I can take the padlock off the “fixing” room?”

“No.”

Tour notes – Lance back in yellow.
Wearing the yellow jersey carries an unspoken behavior to defend the jersey. I am not sure Lance wanted it this early in the race, but the way the tour has unfolded, it just came sooner rather than later.

After four stages, Lance Armstrong carries a :55 second advantage over George Hincapie, his own teammate. The nearest non-team competitor, Jens Voigt, of Team CSC is :64 seconds behind in third place. The strategy at the moment for Team Discovery is to keep Lance safe from harm. Gaining more time will wait for the mountain stages to come later in the race. Read detailed coverage at www.olntv.com.

Tour Notes – Stage One

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Lance saw the rider ahead and became fixed on the target. Jan Ullrich had started :60 seconds ahead in the individual time trial, a race against the clock. As Lance approached, Jan might as well have been standing still. It was an awesome display of fitness. There is much ballyhoo about whose bike weighs the least, or the most precise aerodynamic position, but this race was about fitness.

Back at the office.
As managers, we look at our team members in several dimensions, product knowledge, technical skill, technique and attitude. Yet, often, success is determined by fitness, both physical and mental fitness. Team members pull ahead in their performance because they can. Others drop away or drag across the finish line.

Serious as a heart attack.
Do you have conversations with your team members about their physical health, nutrition, work-out routines and mental focus? One dimension of performance depends on fitness. As a manager, what do you demand from your team? What kind of example do you set? -TF

Saturday’s Prologue

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This Saturday begins the prologue to the 2005 Tour de France. Since I grew up in Austin, I have more than a passing interest in Lance Armstrong’s attempt at a seventh Tour win. Four riders in history have won five Tours, only Lance has won six. If he brings home a seventh, the earliest a newcomer could best that record would be year 2013.

While there is enormous respect for Lance, there is no shortage of riders committed to bring his streak to a screeching halt. Toppling Lance Armstrong would be an emotional maelstrom.

But who, and how?

What appears to be a mass of tires, spokes, and expensive carbon fiber all charging headlong to the finish is more precisely an intricate team sport, playing games with physics, wind resistance and muscle fatigue. Should Lance be beaten, it will NOT be by a single racer, but by a tight cohesive team, working together better than Team Discovery.

From July 2 through July 24, we will watch the drama. If you are a Manager in your organization, you will find principles of leadership, coordination, cooperation and challenge on the faces of world class athletes. There will be lessons for any team willing to learn. -TF

P.S. To watch live and same day coverage, tune to cable channel OLN. Listings can be found at olntv.com.

P.P.S. To read past posts about teamwork and cycling, follow the link to Managementblog’s homepage, scroll down the Category list and follow the link to Henrik’s Wheel.

Working the Design

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Chase left our conversation abruptly. Across the plant floor, he had spotted a problem and rushed to make a correction. He was apologetic on his return. “Sorry, but that is why I called you today. I feel like a two armed octopus. There are eight things that need to happen, but I can only work on two problems at a time. Things get out of control about fifteen minutes into the day. And they never stop. At the end of the day, I look at my boss’ list of projects and the important things never seem to get worked on. There is always a crisis.”

“Not really,” I said. “To me, your system is working exactly the way it was designed to work.”

Chase was puzzled. “What do you mean? It’s not working at all.”

“No, it is working exactly the way it is designed to work. The design of your day’s work is to drink coffee for the first fifteen minutes, then run around the floor solving urgent problems. At the end of each day, you check the list to make sure you didn’t do anything important.”

I paused. “Not a bad design. How’s that working for you?” Chase didn’t like what he was hearing.

“If you want to change your day, you have to change your design for the day. I see about four major design changes you might want to consider, but let’s start with just one. Don’t let anyone work during the first fifteen minutes of the day. Instead have a huddle meeting around the boss’ list of important projects. That one design change will be a good start.”

How is your day designed? -TF

No Top of Head Thinking

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I was sitting at the back, observing the meeting. Edward was struggling to get participation and when he got it, the response was ill formed, almost off topic.

I pulled Edward aside during the first break. “I can see you are a little frustrated. You ask a question and no one raises their hand. After a few seconds, you can’t stand the silence, so you answer your own question. And when someone does answer, they are talking off the top of their head.”

“Yep, that’s the way it usually goes. Kind of a dull group, don’t you think?” Edward replied.

“Not at all,” I said, raising my eyebrows. “This will take some courage and some patience, but your group will brighten immediately. Never let them talk off the top of their head. Every time you ask a question to the group, ask them to write down their response. Just one sentence or a phrase, but they have to write their response first. Now that means you will have to endure a little silence, but not more than you are enduring now, only this time it is planned silence. Ask each team member to write their response, then put down their pen, so you will know they have an idea. Then, wait.”

Edward went back into the meeting and he posed the next question to the group. He asked them to write down their response. Then he waited. Twenty seconds later, seven people were ready to participate, and their ideas were good because they were no longer talking off the top of their heads. -TF

Crabs in a Basket

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“Have you ever been crabbing?” I asked. We were discussing the negativity of Chet’s team. Every meeting, they seemed successful at shooting down everything that Chet wanted to do.

“Crabbing, you know, where you trap crabs, pull them out of the water and throw them into a basket?”

Chet looked at me a little strangely. “What’s that got to do with my team?”

“Here’s the thing, Chet. If you only have one crab in the basket, you have to really watch him, because he will crawl out of that basket lickety split. The trick is to catch some more crabs quickly. It’s amazing. With a bunch of crabs, when one starts to crawl out, all the other crabs attach to his legs and pull him back into the basket. You would think they would all try to crawl out, but that’s not what happens. Sometimes, teams are the same way.

“Here is the way I set things up. Before I describe a possible solution, I go around and have each team member describe the major benefits if we are successful at solving the problem. If I can get them to focus on the benefits, they are less likely to focus on the crab trying to crawl out of the basket.” -TF

Business Intelligence

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“It’s really tough to find out what our competition is doing. They will roll a program out that I know takes, maybe, a year to develop. And, hell, it’s been out on the street for three months before I even hear about it. How can I do a better job of keeping up?” Bud shook his head. He still had plenty of spunk, but he was temporarily demoralized.

“Bud, first of all, if you try to do it alone, you will not only fail, but you will drive yourself crazy. As the business expert Jimmy John Shark says, one set of eyes and ears cannot keep track of everything that is going on in your market. You have to recruit your other team members, perhaps some vendors, maybe even a customer or two.”

“But, I already ask around. Nobody ever seems to know anything,” Bud was getting defensive.

“Look, Bud. Is this important to you, your company, to remain competitive?” I knew the answer, so I kept going. “Create a Business Intelligence meeting. All you need to know is out there, in the media, on the radio, in rumor mills and in formal conversation. Make some assignments. Have Joe read the Wall St. Journal. Have Fred read BusinessWeek. Have Joan report on your two key vendors supplying you with raw material. Then have that meeting every two weeks for half an hour. Get everyone to summarize what they have learned in an email and send it to a central person for compilation so you can read it looking for patterns. A Business Intelligence Briefing, just like the President.” -TF